Rolling Up to Reston With Lobster

Red Hook Lobster Pound DC and teamed up Monday night to bring a bit of Maine - and D.C.'s food truck scene - to

Red Hook is a popular place on the downtown food truck circuit, especially during lunchtime, but the company is testing how suburban stops would fare.

Cat Coughlin, marketing manager for The Boxwood Winery, owner of The Tasting Room, said she thought a Happy Hour event would be a good fit.

"I read about a wine bar in San Francisco that strictly does pop-up food," said Coughlin. "I wanted to go to the best in D.C., so I called the lobster truck. They said 'just get us a parking spot and we'll be there.' " 

Coughlin said Boston Properties, which owns The Tasting Room's side of the town center, was agreeable to having a food truck on site on a slow restaurant night, such as a Monday.

Food trucks have been slower to catch on in the suburbs for several reasons.  There is the lack of foot traffic in some areas, as well as parking and vending regulations on what is, in the case of RTC and other centers like it, private property, said Robin Butler, who handles catering and event sales for Red Hook.

"We would absolutely love to be here regularly," she said as people lined up for lobster rolls. The event was so popular that the truck sold its whole supply by 8 p.m. "I think there is a world of interest in the suburbs. It is a learning process for everyone in terms of zoning, parking and the brick-and-mortar establishments."

Red Hook has lobster shipped to the area from Maine weekly. It sells Maine or Connecticut-style lobster rolls ($15, $18 with Cape Cod chips and Maine Root soda), shrimp rolls ($8), Clam Chowder ($7) and homemade whoopie pies from Whoopsiepies ($3.50).

For Happy Hour, The Tasting Room was suggesting a 2011 Fire Road Sauvignon Blanc, a 2012 Topiary Rose or a 2010 Domaine Pichot Chenin Blanc pairing with a lobster roll.

Sarah O'Hanley, who works in Fairfax and lives in Arlington, says working in Fairfax County means she misses out on the food truck trend. She made a special trip to Reston after work on Monday.

"When I heard wine and lobster, I said 'I'm there!' " she said.